Molding apparatus.



T. M. RAGAN & H. E. BUMBY.

MOLDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 21, 1912.

rrn STATES PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS M. RAGAN AND HENRY E. BUMBY, OF BESSEMER, ALABAMA; SAID RAG'AN ASSIGNOR TO SAID BUMBY.

MOLDING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed August 21, 1912.

Patented Jan. 13, 191 1.

Serial No. 716,307.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, THOMAS M. RAGAN and IIENRY E. Bonny, citizens of the lnited 'States, residing at Bessemer, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Molding Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

()ur invention has for its object the provision of simple, efficient and easily operated mechanism whereby molds for forming sash weights or other castings may be expeditiously formed, and it consists in certain novel features of construction which will be hereinafter first fully described and then more particularly pointed out in the claims following the description.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which: I

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an apparatus embodying our invention. Flg. 2 1s a plan view of one-half of the press. F g. 3 is a plan view of the patternboard. Fig. 4 is a plan view of a flask showmg the same opened for the formation of the mold.

In carrying out our inventlon we employ a base or main supporting frame 1 upon the upper side of which is a track 2. At one end of the base is provided a press having vertically disposed end standards 3 arranged at the sides of the base and provided at their upper ends with lateral pro1ect1ons 4-. through which elongated supporting bolts or rods 5 are passed, the lower ends of sa d rods or elongated bolts being secured in brackets or bearings 6 on the side of the base, as shown most clearly in Fig. 1. The upper portion of the bolts or supporting rods 5 are equipped with nuts 7 which may be adjusted along the said rods to l1m1t the upward movement of the standards 3, as will be readily understood, and extending over the press and supported upon the upper ends of the said rods or elongated bolts 5 are beams 8 which serve to maintain the proper spaced relation of the several bolts or supporting rods so that the standards 8 may be maintained in vertical planes and thereby permitted to operate easily when the apparatus is in use.

The standards?) have plungers 9 secured to or formed with their inner sides, and the said plungers extend across the press to move with the standards at the opposite sides of the same, as Will be readily understood. To the under sides of the plungers 9 are rigidly secured the spaced shoes or prcsser plates 10 which correspond in numher to the molds to be formed and have their under edges properly shaped to conform to the shape of the sash weight to be formed in the mold, the inner corners of the shoes or presser plates being beveled, as indicated at 11. to conform to the gate pattern, as will be presently more fully set forth. The presscr plates or shoes are provided with transverse openings 12 through which access may be had to the nuts 13 fitted on the bolts 14 carried by the plungers so that the shoes may be removed and other shoes of different sizes substituted therefor, according to the size of sash weight which is to be produced.

Journaled in suitable bearings provided therefor on the under side of the beams 8 is a driving shaft 15 equipped with a pulley or gear wheel 16 whereby motion may be imparted to the press from any convenient motor, cams or eccentrics 17 being fitted rigidly upon the said shaft. These cams or eccentrics 17 play in yokes 18 passing thereover and secured upon the upper sides of the plunger-s whereby the plungers and the end standards 3 will be suspended from the cocentrics and the rotation of the shaft will alternately depress and elevate the plungers and the shoes carried by the same to compress the sand within the flask below the plungers.

At the opposite end of the base a flask support is provided consisting of side rails 19 having guides 20 depending from their ends to play in ways or bosses 21 provided on the outer side of the base so that the platform will move steadily and evenly when it is raised and lowered to place the flask over the pattern board or remove it there from. Any convenient means may be utilized to raise and lower this support 19, but we prefer and have illustrated a rack bar 22 depending centrally from the rails through a box or guide 23 on the base and engaged by a pinion 24E fixed on the end of a shaft extending transversely through the base and equipped at one end with a lever 26 whereby it may be rotated. The flask is composed of two members :27 and 28 which are similar in construction and are provided at their ends with hinge members 29 and 30 by means of which they are hinged or pivoted together. The hinges are provided with projecting trunnions 31 adapted to be engaged by any convenient lifting device so that after the sand has been molded the flask may be drawn upwardly by force applied along the hinged connection between its members whereby the flask will be raised to a vertical position as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, the members of the flask folding together as their free edges slide toward each other upon the upper surface of the support 19. The flask members are provided throughout their extent with a series of parallel slots 32, said slots being adapted to receive the molding sand. The

flask is moved from the support 19 to a position under the plungers of the press by a suitable carrying device which may conveniently he in the form of a truck consisting of a board mounted upon rollers or wheels 34: which are fitted to and adapted to travel upon the track rails 2. The platform or board 33 constitutes a pattern board upon which patterns or formers are placed in position to enter the slots 32 of the flask when the flask is superposed thereover. The patterns or formers consist of substantially semi-cylindrical portions 35 corresponding to the dimensions of the sash weights to be produced and having eyes 36 at their outer ends to form patterns for the eyes in the sash weights. These semi-cylindrical portions 35 of the formers are placed upon the pattern board in parallel relation at opposite sides of the transverse center thereof. and from the inner ends of the said members 35 small ribs 38 extend which will form sprue passages in the molds, as will be readily understood. The inner ends of the ribs 38 are disposed against the side edges of a gate pattern 37 arranged upon the board 33 at the center of the same, as shown and as will be readily understood.

In the operation of our apparatus, the truck is moved from end to end of the base and any convenient means may be provided for facilitating this movement. lVe have indicated in the drawings a chain 39 having its ends connected to the carriage and having its intermediate portion extending to the ends of the base and there trained around sprocket wheels which are mounted on shafts extending across the base, one of the shafts being provided with suitable operating means. The flask being arranged over the pattern board, is lowered to the same and secured thereto by any convenient devices, so that the slots in the flask will engage over the formers or patterns, as will be readily understood. The molding sand is then poured into the spaces between the sides of the slots 32 and the formers fitting therein, after which the carriage is moved to the opposite end of the base into position below the presser plates or shoes 10. The

press is then set in operation and the plungers will be lowered so as to compress the sand around the formers and thereby impart to the sand the outline of the formers so that the sand in each slot of the flask will form one-half of a sash weight mold. The

driving shaft 15 of the press is given one complete revolution which will lower the plungers to the flask and raise them from the same after which the carriage is returned to the position in which.the ends of the flask projecting beyond the sides of the carriage may be engaged by the supports 19. The said supports are then raised vertically through the n'ianipulation of the lever 26 sufliciently to permit the flask to clear the formers, as will be readily understood. A crane or other lifting device is then connected to the projecting trunnions 31 of the flask and the flask is lifted to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. l and may then be moved to the place where the metal is to be poured. As the members of the flask fold together, the shaped portions of the sand will be caused to register so that completed sash molds will be formed and the molten metal then poured through the gate formed in the sand by the gate pattern 37 will produce the desired sash weights.

It will be readily noted from the foregoing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings that we have provided a very simple apparatus by which sash weight molds may be rapidly and efliciently produced with a minimum of effort on the part of the operator.

The apparatus is compactly arranged and is composed of very few parts so that it is not liable to get out of order and will be found highly efficient for the purposes for which it is designed. The adjusting nuts 7 on the supporting rods 5 may be set to any desired position so that the plungers or presser plates, when in lowered positions, will exert the proper amount of pressure upon the sand necessary to effectually compress the same about the patterns or formers. The patterns or formers are preferably formedindependently of the pattern board and secured upon the same by any convenient means, so that they may be readily removed and others substituted to permit the formation of molds of various sizes.

Having described our invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a molding apparatus, the combination of a carriage, formers thereon, a foldable flask consisting of hingedly connected duplicate members adapted to fit over said formers, a vertically movable flask support adapted to support said flask in open position over and around the formers and to lift the flask from the formers, and means for compressing sand within the flask around the formers.

2. In a molding apparatus, the combination of a plurality of formers, a flask consisting of hingedly connected members adapted to fit over the said formers in open position, means for compressing sand within the said members, and means for raising the said flask members whereby they will fold together to form molds with a gate opening at the upper end between the said members.

3. In a molding apparatus, a movable flask support, a flask consisting of hingedly connected members provided with a plurality of parallel slots adapted to rest upon said support in open position, and formers adapted to extend within the flask support and fit in the said slots.

4(- In a molding apparatus, the combination of a movable flask support, a flask composed of similar members hinged together and provided throughout their extent with parallel slots, and a series of formers disposed in parallel relation to extend within the flask support and fit within the said slots, a gate pattern disposed between said formers, and sprue-forming elements extending from the said formers to the gate pattern.

5. In a molding apparatus, a vertically movable support, formers adjacent the support, and a flask comprising a pair of members adapted to rest on the support and be lowered over and raised from the formers thereby and hinges connecting the inner edges of the members and constructed to permit the lifting of the inner edges of the members whereby the members will fold together as they are raised from the support.

6. In a molding apparatus, a flask support, a foldable flask consisting of similar members adapted to rest upon the support in unfolded relation, hinge connections between the inner ends of said members, and trunnions at the sides of the members in alinement with said hinge connect-ions whereby the inner ends of the members may be lifted and the outer ends thereof slide together on the support.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS M. RAGAN. [1 s] HARRY E. BUMBY. [1 s.] l/Vitnesses L. C. Cnoon,

FLETCHER S'runmvim'r.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of 12mm, Washington, D. G. 

